Mardi Gras

[FunkyCold5]

Well, I believe my friends and I are going on a little road trip to New Orleans, LA!

Leaving after work, Wednesday, February 18th, to drive to Atlanta, GA. Get some sleep at a friend's place (that may potentially go with us), then drive the rest of the way to New Orleans that Thursday.

NOW, I've only been to New Orleans once AND that was a long time ago. I didn't even smoke cigars back then.

1. Tell me the sites!
2. Best places to eat!
3. Best places to smoke a great stogie!

Only staying there until Sunday, February 22.

Main plan is to do sites, eat great food and smoke during the day, and PARTY at night.

Andrew

[ReV]

not an expert on new orleans, let let me know if you end up coming through Mobile. Not sure how you're going, but we're right at the "intersection" of I-65 and I-10.

[597]

Stop by the cigar factory right on Decatur east of Canal St. (In the French Quarters, I think its across from the hard rock/ jackson brewery). They roll their own cigars which were pretty decent and they normally are in the store rolling them. Try the vintage if they have any, I was just there 1/4 - 1/10.

Have fun in NOLA.

[mrtr33]

I'm not an expert on NO either, but I've been there a handful of times.

Keep in mind that you are going for Mardi Gras - you will have to pay to go to the bathroom, you will have to wait in a long, long line for anything, and there is trash and puke up past your ankles. But have fun!

I second the New Orleans Cigar Factory - in addition to Decatur St., there is also a small one on Bourbon St. Check it out, some reasonably descent smokes. They roll fresh on Bourbon, too.

Enjoy beginets and cafe au lait at at Cafe du Monde (a tradition)
Enjoy Hurricanes and rowdy piano bar shinnanigans at Pat O'Brien's
There are great "Hand Grenades" (it's a drink) at Tropical Isle
Start the evening at Tipitinas

Practical advice for Mardi Gras parades:
The people down there won't pick up anything off of the ground for a REASON. Follow their etiquette.
But feel free to knock over grandmothers and little kids for beads and small doubloons. You'll get the idea quick.
Wear cargo pants or shorts to the parade. You can carry beer in the extra pockets. Or, better yet, bring a Camelbak full of (liquor of choice), and keep buying (mixer of choice)
Wear boots. While practically you might think this might clash with said wardrobe described above, you'll be wading through tons of garbage, such as beer bottles, vomit, and trash. Besides, you haven't seen the outfits worn there yet.

NO advice in general:
Things are pretty loose there, but general hygiene laws still apply. You can and will get nailed for peeing in the street.
If she's too easy and too pushy up front, she's a man.

Honestly, have a great time. Be safe. Travel in packs. Always know where your wallet is. But I've been going to Mardi Gras parades for 25+ years. I've been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras 3 times. I would not go back, but then again, I'm too old for that scene.

[FunkyCold5]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Never really experienced Mardi Gras in NO. To tell you the truth, I won't really mind if it's Mardi Gras or not, I just wanted to go back down to NO and enjoy the food and enjoy some good smoke. One of my friends just wanted to "scratch" that experience from his list, so a group of us are going.

Andrew

[mrtr33]

Have fun. Be careful. Are you staying in the Quarter? It will cost you to go to the bathroom, so make you sure have some $1's.

Remember: NO beads, no matter how big or colorful they are, are worth exposure. You'll understand what I mean when you get there if you don't already.

[Mizicke5273]

My buddy was there a few years ago, he doesn't smoke, but he mentioned to me he saw some local cigars called Don Leoncio cigars. They may be worth looking into.

[Alcibiates]

Man... This might get long :P

Parades:
[parade site]
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule.html
Click on any parade and there's a link to an interactive map. Check there to see where all they're going and find somewhere you think you can get to. Good luck driving anywhere near the parade route, by the way. The entire NOPD is on call for every parade.

Thursday:
If you make it into town for 615 or shortly after, Muses starts 6:15. The parade is all women and is usually pretty entertaining.

Friday:
I think Krewe D'etat is the big one for Friday. They've been voted best parade a couple times, although it's not as big as the super krewes. They start at 6, and if you play it right you can end up pretty close to the French Quarter at the end of the parade and just segway to Bourbon if you so wish.

Saturday:
Endymion is one of the three 'super krewes', so I would go to if I were you.

Sunday:
Bacchus is another super krewe, over a thousand riders + celebrities and what-not. Not to be missed :P

Should try to find a way to stay for Monday and Tuesday... The third super krewe, Orpheus, is on monday, and then Zulu and Rex are some of my favorite parades because they usually have cool throws (Zulu has coconuts! And Rex usually has a pretty cool bead every year) Then there are two more parades that follow Rex.

General parade advice:
mrtr covered a lot of it...
Be reasonable afraid of anything that touches the ground. You'll be here for the earlier parades, so it won't be too bad, but the ground is still... Eugh... Their idea of cleaning the streets is a street sweeper and some water.
I dunno how you feel about temperature, but it'll probably be in the 60s for most of the parades, but it tends to cool down pretty quick once the sun sets, but I think the lows for this weekend are like mid to upper forties... hardly cold, especially for a yank ;)
Don't wear anything to a parade that you would be upset if it got ruined... or didn't make it home.
Carry as little in your pockets as you can get away with. ID+cash is plenty. Parades are a hot spot for pickpockets because you're getting hit by people constantly and won't be as likely to feel them as they nip all your stuff.


Foodstuffs:
Cafe du Monde is a good place to go... They sell coffee with chicory which is pretty hard to find in most places. I don't personally like it, but I know people that live on the stuff. Cigar Factory is down the street from them, although I've yet to find another shop in the French Quarter worth anything. Most of the "cigar shops" you'll find on the internet are more like head shops. Oh well.

I'm a bit hesitant to recommend anywhere for food during carnival season just for the fact that it's so hard to get in anywhere. Eat whatever you can get your hands on, really. Try etouffee while you're here if you get the chance, preferably with crawfish. If you go anywhere to eat, ask what the house specialty is of the restaurant and order that unless you're allergic to it (yes, even if it involves squirrel or snake... Or neutria (gigantic rats) :P) But it won't, most likely. Just tons of seafood.

If you've liked to learn how to work hard for a small amount of food while crying from the spiciness (and aforementioned spices working their way into small cuts on your fingers) order boiled crawfish somewhere. 3:)

General advice:
Cops are going to have more stuff to deal with than you, most likely. Don't do anything too stupid and it won't be too bad. The number of cops is supposed to serve a deterrent more than anything else.
If you have to carry your wallet with you, wrap rubber band around it (Or if you have a junk wallet, put velcro on your wallet and velcro in your pocket. It's pretty hard to miss someone ripping the velcro out of your pocket.) Keep it in your front pocket, either way.

If anything else pops into this random head of mine I'll post it...

[FunkyCold5]

Off to New Orleans, LA!

Bo, see you Friday morning for some kick-arse beginets, coffee and good smokes!

Andrew

[mrtr33]

I'm guessing you're still alive, based on you posting on here. How was it? Or are you still there?

[FunkyCold5]

Trip was a success! 4 days is definitely not enough time to spend in NOLA. I have to admit, I'm glad I experienced Mardi Gras before the peak weekend and experience it at peak (minus the Fat Tuesday).

I will try to post pictures of the ones I can when I upload from the camera.

Dunno if you guys knew, but 5 of us drove down. So, I got back 7am this morning. 19 hours of driving straight through the night, still need to get reacclimated with the normal world and with sleep.

Linked up with Bo (Alcibiates) at Cafe du Monde and had some great coffe, beignet and he gifted me a cigar called Devil's Weed. Mild smoke, but considering it was early in the morning, I had only 4 hours of sleep and not even a cup of water for the past day, it was a perfect cigar to smoke.

FOOD was AWESOME!

Andrew

[597]

Nice to hear you had fun and made it back in one piece.

[FunkyCold5]

I have to admit, I'm glad I went there before the rush to experience NOLA just before Mardi Gras AND then experience NOLA at peak Mardi Gras weekend.

I would definitely do it again. It was like being in college all over again, without the exams the next morning!

Had to take in as much of NOLA in 4 days as I can. Avg 3-4 hours of sleep (worth it).